Social anxiety and the effects of negative self-imagery on emotion, cognition, and post-event processing

► We investigated the effects of negative self-imagery on cognition and emotion. ► Subjects were either high or low in social anxiety. ► Subjects held either a positive or negative self-image during a brief speech. ► The negative image increased anxiety, negative thoughts, and post-event processing. ► Results suggests that negative self-images maintain social anxiety.